The Case Against Auctions in Hong Kong

To auction or not to auction, is that the question? Or is it Hamlet without the prince? What exactly is being auctioned when bids totaling $33.8 billion are raised in the UK by third generation (3G) mobile telecommunications licenses? These are access licenses, the right to own some of the radio spectrum necessary to provide access to the world of broadband wireless Internet, but isn’t there something missing? Like a business case? Like, exactly what is 3G?